TAMPA -I stumble into the St. Pete Times Forum this morning, right off the plane from Raleigh, and who greets me but Gene Simmons and Ryan Malone. My first thought, of course, IS THE GREATEST BAND IN THE WORLD IN TOWN? Sadly, no.

First off: Peter Budaj will be in net for the Avs tonight. So much for my hunch Craig Anderson would start.
Who’s in net for the Lightning? No idea, because the Bolts don’t do morning skates anymore. So there was nobody there for the home team – except one guy, Brett Clark.

Clarkie stopped by to say hi to the boys. He was always a well-liked teammate, so plenty of Avs players stopped by to catch up with him.

DALLAS – Greetings from my hotel room, where Stouffer’s lasagna is in the microwave and a documentary about the Patty Hearst kidnapping from the ’70s is on the TV. You want to live vicariously through me, don’t you.

Great win for the Burgundy and Blue tonight here, though I must confess I gave up on the boys in the third period after Dallas tied it 3-3 with 10 minutes to go. I know it’s a shock I looked on the negative side for a while.

I think both teams were somewhat fortunate to get to overtime tonight, if that makes any sense. It could have gone either way in that last 10 minutes, though Dallas clearly carried the play.

But not in the first 40 minutes, and not in OT either. I thought Chris Stewart had it won in OT, but Kari Lehtonen stoned him. David Jones missed a bunny a bit earlier, when the puck rolled off his stick with a yawning net. But Dallas missed on a few great chances at the end, too, especially on that 4-on-3 for the final 39 seconds of OT.

Peter Budaj made a lot of good saves tonight and deserves praise. He allowed one soft goal, to Adam Burish in the second, but the other two goals weren’t his fault. Ryan Wilson was more at fault on the two goals, and it remains an ongoing question: what does Joe Sacco see in him, to keep playing him over Jonas Holos or, now, Kyle Quincey?

Wilson was knocked off the puck on the Stars’ second goal, by Brenden Morrow, then deflected James Neal’s shot into his own net off a skate in the third. I know that’s bad luck, and it was a power-play goal (one that further shouldn’t have happened, because Greg Mauldin was blatantly tripped a few seconds before on the PK, but no call was made).

But the fact is, goals keep happening when Wilson and D partner Adam Foote are on the ice. I thought Foote played a better game than Wilson tonight. I don’t think Wilson was horrible tonight, either, but it keeps looking bad that he’s playing so much and Holos isn’t.

But let’s quit harping on the negative. Kevin Shattenkirk has everyone around the team excited with his play. Two great assists tonight, and nearly 25 minutes of ice time. Once in a while there might be a turnover with him, but as long as he’s dangerous on the power play and offensively in general, the Avs will be thrilled to get that kind of play from him.

And Kevin Porter continues to be a nice little story. He had his second walkoff goal of the week, and was robbed a couple other times by Lehtonen. He’s not going to win a Selke trophy, but he’s worked hard since coming back and the results speak for themselves.

DALLAS – Peter Budaj will be between the pipes tonight against Dallas. Haven’t gotten any “reason” for that, but there isn’t much to speculate about. It’s the second of a back-to-back game nights, and Budaj has earned more playing time with the job he did while Anderson was out.

Some other media outlets have reported that Anderson will start again tonight, and that Joe Sacco said after last night’s game he would go with Andy again. But he never said that.

There are no other lineup changes planned tonight, though. Kyle Quincey and Jonas Holos will be healthy scratches, along with David Koci.

John Grahame just sent back to Lake Erie, obviously meaning that Craig Anderson has been cleared to play again. At this second, I don’t know if he’s starting tomorrow or not against the Rangers, as the Avs were off today. We’ll all know in the morning, but my pure guess hunch is Peter Budaj will play tomorrow against the Rangers and Andy will play against the Stars in Dallas Saturday.

Colorado Avalanche Kevin Porter (12) gets mobbed by teammates after his game winning goal in overtime to defeat the San Jose Sharks 4-3 November 17, 2010 at Pepsi Center. John Leyba, The Denver Post

A lot of “get me rewrite” up in the press box tonight. The done-like-dinner Avs come back to win a shocker instead over the Sharks, which might not have been as big a surprise as who scored the OT winner – Kevin Porter – and how he scored.

That was a genuinely great goal the occasionally-maligned Porter scored. I guess that’s why the kid once won a Hobey Baker, yeah?

Biggest play of the night for my money though? The combination heads-up pass by John Liles – capitalizing after Joe Thornton foolishly went to retrieve his lost stick in the Avs’ zone instead of doing what you’re taught to do in hockey, go to the bench and get a twig from a teammate and stay in the play defensively – and sick wrister from Chris Stewart for the goal that made it 3-2.

Stewart was a beast in the final 12 minutes, and his goal woke everybody up. Unfortunately for the Avs, that didn’t include many fans in the stands. Ace columnist colleague Mark Kiszla takes a look at the Avs’ ongoing attendance problems in his piece for tomorrow’s Post. Only 12,436 announced tonight – and that was the announced crowd. In other words, that was the “Here’s the number we’ll make up to make it look more respectable” figure given by the Burgundy and Blue.

I’m not going to harp forever on the attendance, and I’m not going to throw you, the fans, under the bus for it. It’s always the fault of the team when they don’t sell tickets. It’s their problem to solve, not yours. But the fact is, the Avs entered the game ranked 25th in the NHL in attendance, were 27th last season and 26th the year before.

But back to the game: A feelgood win for the Avs, but let’s not ignore some of the alarm bells either. They were outshot 43-22 – though some of that had to do with the disparity in power plays. Then again, you make your own man-advantage situations with your play, and vice-versa.

The defensive combo of Ryan Wilson and Adam Foote, as anyone who saw the game knows, had some major problems tonight. Fact is, they had big-time issues the other night against St. Louis too. Both were a minus-2 tonight, were on the ice for all three Sharks goals and were lucky they weren’t assessed a fourth when a Sharks goal was disallowed on video review in the third (a no-goal coach Joe Sacco called a “fortunate break for us.”)

The question going forward is: how do you justify playing either guy right now over Jonas Holos? And what do you do when Kyle Quincey comes back, which should be soon?

My opinion: Holos should be in, and you can take your pick right now over who to bench, between Wilson or Foote. Sacco got off the hook a bit tonight with the comeback, because we were all ready to get out the long knives over his decision to bench the well-playing Holos in favor of Wilson.

If Holos is benched again, then Sacco clearly will have bent his rule of “we’re going to play the players who are doing the best job and give us the best chance to win” mantra.

I’m not saying Holos was playing like Bobby Orr, but there’s no way Wilson/Foote have been better than him of late.

The other question that’s starting to brew: should Peter Budaj be put back on the bench when Craig Anderson is cleared to return, which should be any day now?

Budaj was excellent after the Sharks made it a 3-1 game on a soft goal, so give him credit. But Anderson not only deserves, but will get the starting job when he’s ready. If he’s terrible for two or three straight games after that? Then maybe we’ll have a goaltending controversy on our hands. But for now Budaj has proven himself to be a capable backup and deserves huge credit for keeping the team afloat in Anderson’s absence. Yes, Budaj has also benefited from his team being one of the highest-scoring in the league. But the right thing to do is to give Anderson the top job back and let him prove again that he had it previously for a reason.

Some links:
– The

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of Avs radio man Marc Moser, which includes the entertaining call of the Porter goal. It’s about halfway through the thingy.

Video above of Craig Anderson taking shots for the first time today since injuring his right knee nearly three weeks ago.
Obviously a welcome sight for Avs fans. I don’t know exactly when he’ll be back in the lineup, but can’t imagine it being much longer than a week assuming he’s back at full practice starting tomorrow.

Ryan Wilson is back in the lineup tonight for the Burgundy and Blue against St. Louis. Joe Sacco will go with seven D-men against the Blues, and David Koci is “available” to play if Sacco so chooses to play him.

Other good medical news: Kyle Quincey was back on skates today. He won’t play tonight, but it might not be long before he’s back too.

Remember, the game is at 6 mountain tonight, and it’s on Versus only.

To follow Adrian Dater on Twitter, click here. Dater can be heard after Avs home games on 87.7 FM, The Ticket, offering analysis and insight.

The Avs wanted a little size and toughness on the back end, and they got some this morning with the acquisition of 6-5 defenseman Ryan O’Byrne from Montreal.

I’ll have more on him in the paper tomorrow – hoping to talk to him still – but basically he’s your ham-and-egger type D-man, jumbo-sized. Nothing fancy, not going to score you many goals, but he’ll hit people and he’ll fight. See for yourself some of his pugilism skills:

Vancouver Canucks G Cory Schneider (35) makes a save as the puck pops up in front of him in the first period November 4, 2010 at Pepsi Center. John Leyba, The Denver Post

I’m not going to go on and on tonight here. Most of you probably saw the game and came away with the same impression I did: that the Colorado Avalanche was one bad hockey club. But I think we’ve also all learned that this team tends to have lots of ups and downs, and not to overreact too much to one loss.

The big story wasn’t so much the result, a loss in early November, but the benching of Matt Duchene by coach Joe Sacco for most of the second period. More of what went down is spelled out here in colleague Mark Kiszla’s excellent column.

This is going to be very big, seeing how he responds not only Saturday but in the few games after that. He was essentially singled out tonight by the coach, not only in the game but after (video below).

Sacco has never publicly bad-mouthed Duchene’s play before, even when it might have warranted it at times, but tonight he definitely sounded like the dad who had to take the car keys away finally.

But in talking with People Who Would Know the last couple of days, the consensus is that concussed Avalanche left winger Peter Mueller will play again this season. A lot of people wondered/worried about that not happening.

If I was pinned up against a wall and told to give my best prediction as to when that might happen, I’d say Christmas time, give or take a few days either way. That’s the best case scenario I personally believe, again after talking with People Who Would Know.

Is it a guarantee that Mueller will play again this season? I guess nothing ever is. But the word is that he will. At some point. I know it’s all too vague, this news, but at this point it’s the best I got.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
It was kind of lost in today’s offerings, but the fact that Craig Anderson skated Monday was obviously a hugely good sign for the Avalanche. As stated last week here, Anderson is not seriously hurt.

It won’t be the “He’ll only miss one week” yammerings of some electronic media types out of Canada (today is the one-week mark since the injury, and he won’t play Thursday against Vancouver), but he’ll be back reasonably soon. I’ll say 2-3 more weeks.

From left to right, Colorado Avalanche's Scott Hannan (22), Ryan Wilson, right wing David Jones and right wing Milan Hejduk celebrate Jones' goal during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Denver, Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010. (AP Photo/Barry Gutierrez)

You have to go back to March 11 of last season, to find a game in which the Avalanche won by three goals or more (a 3-0 win over Florida). Four of the five Avs wins this season were by one goal, the other by two.

Tonight, a 5-1 blowout. It would have been a closer game without the glove work of Peter Budaj, however, none better than his stop on Rick Nash on a breakaway in the second period, after Nash lifted the stick of Jonas Holos from behind and stole the puck near the Avs’ blue line.

Here are Budaj’s thoughts on the game: (and in Monday’s paper, I’ll have a more in-depth look at his situation after last year, his thoughts on staying with the Avs after playing very little last year, etc.):

Here are a couple minutes with David Liffiton, who scored his first NHL goal tonight. I thought he played real well. He also wasted no time in getting the hockey nicknames right, calling Daniel Winnik “Winnie” in crediting him for the assist on the goal.

Avs looked fast all night. A few sloppy moments in the first period, but that was it. Hard to believe Matt Duchene didn’t get on the score sheet tonight. He was flying.

A couple notes:
– Kevin Porter was sent back to Lake Erie after the game. He had no points and no shots on net in six games.
– Great game by Winnik. I gave him the first star.
– Phoenix has fallen out of love with Wojtek Wolski already. He was a healthy scratch for the second straight game tonight by coach Dave Tippett.
– My thoughts on Ilya Kovalchuk’s appearance Saturday night in Los Angeles, and the calamity that is becoming the New Jersey Devils.

As noted in a story over at the mothership site (along with updates on his injury), no contract extension talks have yet to take place this season between Craig Anderson and his agent, a man named Justin Duberman, and Burgundy and Blue managment.

Do I find that surprising? Maybe a little, but let’s not trash the team just yet. There are obviously quite a few days left between now and July 1st, 2011, when Andy could become an unrestricted free agent.

I don’t want to put words in Greg Sherman’s mouth, or Pierre Lacroix’s or Stan/Josh Kroenke’s. But I think it’s obvious what the strategic thinking is on Anderson:“Let’s wait and see how he performs again for a good portion of this year before we back up the money truck. Let’s keep that carrot dangling in front of him a while longer, and maybe get a win-win situation. The better he plays, the more money he knows he’ll make and the better he plays, the more we win hockey games.”

Of course, there’s some risk in that strategy, but I don’t think it’s out of line. The only risk is Andy having another big year, not feeling appreciated enough by the organization for putting him through the stress of the contract year and saying see-ya in July for another team.

Anderson getting away for nothing is the worst-case scenario, but that’s a long ways off. And just because no talks have happened yet doesn’t mean it can’t all happen in an instant, with one good offer convincing Andy to sign on the dotted line.

The Avs are going to have to keep spending money to stay in line with the NHL salary cap, and giving Craig Anderson a good chunk of change to get there sounds like a solid plan to me.

But what do you think? Smart of the Avs to keep Andy hungry for that next contract, or potentially hazardous and dumb?

Before I leave, a couple links:
– My list of the top five sayings that, when you hear them, you know a team is in trouble.

– An Avs blogger is getting tired of everybody wiping their feet on Peter Budaj.

As noted earlier on the Denver Post’s main site, Peter Budaj will get the start tomorrow night in Vancouver against the division champs. Roberto Luongo is expected to start for the Canucks.

Yeah, Craig Anderson is coming off arguably his poorest performance in his time with the Avalanche, but even if Budaj gets a 50-save shutout tomorrow, I’m sure we’ll see Andy in net Thursday against the Cal-Gary Flames.

Here’s coach Sacco talking about the upcoming trip, the decision to start Budaj and even a little bit about Peter Mueller:

PARAMUS, N.J. - 1:40 A.M. here and I still can’t sleep, so why not do a blog? Maybe my own words will put me to sleep? Don’t answer that.

Here’s something I’m thinking about at this moment: what about Craig Anderson? He’s in his final contract year, and he could be an unrestricted free agent again next summer.

Question is: would Andy take something of a possible hometown discount to stay an Av, and sign an extension this year? Or, does he want to roll the dice on having another big year and hit the open market and get top dollar?

When I asked him recently his thoughts on his contract, he demurred, saying that’s in the hands of his agent and the team. I don’t have any juicy details on any possible talks right now, but one would have to assume this is high on the agenda of GM Greg “The Shermanator” Sherman.

Another year like he had, and no doubt Anderson would get $4-5 million a year on his next deal. His cap hit now is $1.8 million, so a big raise is likely. Obviously, with the lowest payroll in the league right now, the Avs could afford a nice big extension right now.

Anderson didn’t start out in this organization, but this is the one that took a chance on him and gave him his first No. 1 job. So while he doesn’t probably have that longtime loyalty feeling to the Avs, no doubt he has a lot of warm feelings for it now.

But I get the impression that he is not going to cheat himself at the money table, and so I don’t think the Avs should be counting on him taking a big hometown discount to stay.

Unless Anderson’s play just collapses, the Avs can NOT let him get away for nothing. He was the No. 1 reason why they made the playoffs last year, and it doesn’t look like he’s slipped much so far. He’s allowed three goals in each of his first two starts, but two of the goals were breakaways.

A couple links:
– My thoughts on the Chicago’s Niklas Hjalmarsson hit on Buffalo’s Jason Pominville the other night, and the potential for bad things upon his return from a two-game suspension Saturday night against….the Sabres.

– Here’s a really fun video made by the NHL Network and Billy Jaffe with Stastny, Stewart and Galiardi, in a roundtable discussion on various things. Links to other videos are below the video that pops up here.

Galiardi is quite an interesting dude. He’s a little down, after being dropped off the top line, but he’s a real leader on the team already and I think he’s going to be fine on the ice.

– Want huge discounts on tickets for next Thursday’s home game with the Sharks, and support a good cause in the process? Here’s your link.
Also, there is info. there about a game between blog sites Mile High Hockey and the Avalanche Guild.

Oh, and I’d be remiss, wouldn’t I, if I didn’t include the video of my appearance on Versus’ Hockey Central, talking about the old Avs-Wings rivalry days with Darren McCarty and Keith Jones. Yes, I would be remiss:

DETROIT — Peter Budaj gets the nod in goal for the Avs tonight against the Red Wings. Game time is 5:30 mountain.
Budaj gets his first start in Game 3 of the season. Last season, Budaj didn’t make his first start until Nov. 4, against Phoenix. He got two more appearances the rest of that month.

Budaj did not play against the Red Wings last season, but went 1-0 against them the previous season.

From ace odds-maker Jimmy Shapiro, in Las Vegas: The latest odds on All Things Avalanche for 2010-11, from everything on the chances of a Stanley Cup in Denver (40-1) to the over-under on how many points Milan Hejduk will get. Yes, somebody is betting on this tonight, and to them I say: seek counseling.

PHILADELPHIA – So I was hanging out at my dear Aunt Lydia and Uncle Richard’s house tonight, along with cousins Stephen, Lee and Elizabeth. My aunt and uncle have lived in the house I’m typing in now for at least the last 37 years, that I can recall, and it’s one of those places you most fondly remember as a kid.

For me, it always seemed like Disneyland or something. There was a big TV that got channels that showed a lot of games, including an early version of HBO-style TV with a channel called Prism. To be able to watch 1974 Philadelphia Phillies games, in color, in their turf! It was always amazing to me. Don’t forget: kids like me got to see maybe one game a week sometimes on TV – on Saturday afternoons – and that was often it. There were always good snacks in the cupboard and in the freezer. Always another fudgesicle in the freezer to have.
So it’s been great to have a night with family you hardly ever get to see anymore. That, indeed, can be a perk of this job. And also a curse, because it takes you away too much from your immediate family.

In a roundabout – very very roundabout way – the concept of family and familiarity leads me into the Avalanche’s two signings today: Peter Budaj and David Koci – back again.
Budaj, let’s face it, has been Avalanche family for the last five years or so. He’s familiar, he’s competent enough at what he does, and so the Avs have chosen to spend more time with him, at least another year at a $1.25 million salary.

David Koci will be paid $575,000 to try and be not so warm and family-like to the opposition for another year. I know a lot of you are saying “KOCI??????? How did this happen again?”

And the answer is: because he’s familiar by now, because he was OK at what he did and it’s better to keep it in the family than go outside of it when you really have no idea what you might be getting.

Listen, I could go the other way, easily, on these signings. Boods, again? Really? I could go there.
Same with Coach.

But I’m going to just chalk it up to this being a case of keeping it in the family and that’s it.

I’ll have a big story on Lappy tomorrow in the paper. He thought he was family in Denver and wouldn’t be going anywhere. But he learned again that business comes first in hockey. Family? Only in fairytales.

– Here’s a column about the experience of being in the building last night for Game 3 in Philly.

– Here’s the link to a podcast I did yesterday with the notorious Eklund, from hockeybuzz.com, along with another person from the site, Julie Robenhymer.
I probably will be excommunicated from the professional hockey writers association for consorting with Eklund, but he’s a nice guy who has led a very interesting life and I admire the guy’s pluck. No, the site doesn’t always bat 1,000 on trade or other predictions coming true, but, hey, he’s into the sport big-time, is an industrious, entrepreneurial sort and I like him personally. So there.

It would have been easy to pout a little. It would have been easy to have a grumpy look on the face. It would have been easy for Peter Budaj to let the frustration of playing so little manifest itself outwardly this season.

Peter Budaj went from being the Avs’ former No. 1 netminder, a guy who played 56 games in 2008-09, to appearing in all of 15 games this year. He only started in 11 of 82 games. He went from Jan. 8 to March 16 between starts at one point – more than two months!

He sat during the second of back-to-back games several times, even during times Craig Anderson appeared to clearly be gassed. A lot of guy would have pouted about that, and if Boods would have been within his right to do that a little.

But not once did Budaj ever show anything but first-class attitude and professionalism. All he did was show up for work every single day, practice with intensity, like he was going to be starting the next night perhaps, and be a supportive teammate with a sunny outlook on life in the locker room.

He’s always been a great kid, which is why it was tough for me to rip on him at times in the past. That earned me a lot of enmity from some sections of the Avalanche fan base, but you know I try to just call it as I see it and people are always free to disagree and rip on me as well. I can take it – and sometimes I deserve a good rip job as well, because I can screw up at my job just like a player does sometimes.

Anyway, I thought Budaj played pretty well in the brief times we saw him this year. He had a solid .917 saves percentage – a very healthy improvement on the not-so-solid .899 of a year before. The saves percentage was a career high, in fact.

One of Budaj’s five wins on the season was a 4-0 shutout at St. Louis Dec. 7. But that wasn’t Budaj’s biggest win over the Blues this year. The biggest was the 5-3 victory he earned in that March 16 start at the Scottrade Center. Not only was it a big late-season win on the road that kept the Avs aloft in the battle for a playoff spot, but how tough must it have been to go in there and play for the first time in more than two months? Budaj started off a little slow in the game, but ended up making 36 saves and basically stole the game toward the end.

Budaj’s season didn’t finish as well, though. He was given back-to-back starts after the Avs clinched a playoff spot in Vancouver, and allowed nine goals in losses to Edmonton and Chicago. The games didn’t mean anything, really, but that loss in Edmonton kind of set him back a little. He gave up a couple of softies and the Avs blew a 3-0 lead.

He made one appearance in the playoffs, the final nine minutes of Game 5 in San Jose, allowing one goal on four shots.

Will Budaj be back for another season? As of this second, we don’t know for sure, but some of the signs are pointing to the answer being no. The Avs probably will give more of a shot to Tyler Weiman this coming training camp, and don’t forget John Grahame is still on the roster.

I think Budaj just wants to play a lot more, and obviously with Craig Anderson around for at least another year, doing so here would appear to be unlikely – no matter who is the backup. Budaj could play in Europe this coming year, we’ll see.

If he does leave, he’ll take with him some good memories in his time as an Av, and some tough ones too. But through it all, he was a professional and all-around good guy. That still counts for something.

There can’t be a whole lot second-guessing of this grade. Maybe an A-, which I almost gave him. Yes, he did falter somewhat at the end of the season, but if you really took a hard look at some of those games, Anderson simply didn’t get a lot of help from his team, either offensively or defensively.

The fact is, Craig Anderson had a breakthrough season for the Burgundy and Blue, and deserves the A. Nobody knew much about him when he signed a two-year, $3.6 million deal last summer (look for him to get an extension sometime in the coming season, unless the bottom falls out suddenly). But by season’s end, Andy became probably the most talked-about, most recognizable player on the team.

His 51-save shutout in Game 3 of the Sharks series was his masterpiece of the season, and his curtain call for the fans as the first star after the game was the best and loudest moment in the Pepsi Center all year. Read more…

VANCOUVER — Well, so much for Joe Sacco listening to me. Craig Anderson will get the start tomorrow against the Canucks, eschewing my suggestion to go with Peter Budaj and give Andy some rest entering Wednesday’s game with the Oilers.

Does this mean Sacco might play Budaj against Edmonton? Don’t know. He’s not saying.

Tough news today on the Peter Mueller concussion. Because they are totally unpredictable injuries, nobody knows when he’ll be back. Right now, nobody knows. Mueller had a previous concussion in Phoenix, so this wasn’t the first one. We just have to wait and see. At least there was the good news that no other injuries — to the shoulder or knee — were sustained.

David Jones will come on the trip, but won’t play. My guess is Brandon Yip will take Mueller’s spot on the Duchene-Hejduk line, but we’ll know for sure at the morning skate tomorrow.

The Avs can weather this. Just have to have other guys raise their games a little. Hey, I’m thinking positive here.

A couple of links:

— Anybody want to see my picks for the Vezina Trophy? If not for his recent struggles, I might have put Andy in the No. 5 spot. Tuuka Rask got it instead, and he’s now starting to get a lot of buzz as the possible Calder Trophy winner. I don’t know about a guy who only played 40-something games winning the award, but his numbers have definitely been good for the Bruins.

— I’ll be on the Vic Lombardi and Gary Miller show tomorrow morning at about 7:30 a.m., talking Avs. ESPN radio AM 1600. And I might be on the D-Mac and Alfred Williams show on The Fan tomorrow night, 104.3 FM.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.

Chambers covers college and professional hockey for The Denver Post. He has written for the Post since 1994, after dumping his first 9-to-5 office job a couple years out of college. He primarily follows the University of Denver hockey team and helps cover the Avalanche.